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Hungarian student reunion at Bard CollegeThe Hungarian revolution of 1956 and after: impact and contributions is the focus of a three-day conference and a 50th reunion of Hungarian student refugees at Bard College. |  |
From Thursday, February 15,
through Saturday, February 17, 2007, Bard
College celebrates the more than 300
Hungarian refugee students who arrived on the Annandale-on-Hudson campus, fresh from the
Hungarian Revolution, in December 1956. Bard will host an alumni/ae
reunion for these students, their families, and faculty members. In
conjunction with the reunion, Bard is presenting an international conference,
“The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and After: Impact and Contributions.”
“The fate of the almost 200,000 Hungarian refugees is another subject that will be examined. We will take a look at the various countries we went to, what those countries did for us, and what we did for our adopted homes. We would like to assess the contributions that this unique group made, without forgetting about expressing our thanks to those who helped get us started.” Bitó was a Hungarian freedom fighter and refugee student who, after the Language and Orientation Course at Bard, received a Bard scholarship and stayed on as a premed science major, graduating with the class of 1960. The Hungarian students arrived at Bard on December 22, 1956, during Bard’s Winter Field Period, while the Bard students were absent from campus. The College provided orientation to the United States for the Hungarian freedom fighters as well as English language instruction. The refugee students used their time at Bard to learn, teach, organize, and begin to adapt to what, for most, would become their new country. James Case, then President of Bard College, was quoted in a January 1957 article in the New York Times, saying, “They are a magnificent group. You have to hear them sing and watch them in the classrooms to appreciate this. They are eager to learn . . . [and] have forced us to pick up the pace.” The students ranged in age from 15 to 35 and were taught by 15 Bard faculty members. Fifty years later, Bard is inviting all the alumni/ae of the program to campus for a reunion. The College seeks to celebrate their time here, share their memories with current students and faculty, and remember the events of the Revolution. Coinciding with the reunion, Bard is holding an international conference, “The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and After: Impact and Contributions.” The conference reconsiders the Hungarian revolution, its impact on the freedom fighters’ future lives, and its legacy. The three-and a-half-day event includes a concert, panel discussions, lectures, a film festival, an exhibition, and informal discussions with faculty and students. Speakers include Csaba Békés,
author of The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and World Politics and Cold War, Détente and the 1956
Hungarian Revolution and visiting scholar
of history at New York University; László Bitó, author and professor of
ocular physiology at Columbia University, who developed Xalatan, an innovative
drug for the treatment of glaucoma; Leon Botstein, President of Bard College;
Malcolm Bilson ’56, musician at the forefront of the period-instrument
movement for more than 30 years and Frederick J. Whiton Professor of Music,
Emeritus, at Cornell University; Tibor Frank, professor of
history at the Department of American Studies and director of the School of
English and American Studies at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; Miklós
Haraszti, Hungarian poet, songmaker, essayist, editor, journalist, writer,
and one of the founders of the Hungarian Democratic Opposition Movement; Peter
Kenez, author of Hungary from the Nazis to the Soviets: The Establishment
of the Communist Regime in Hungary, 1944–1948 and A History of the
Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End, and professor of
history, University of California, Santa Cruz; Béla G. Lipták,
world-renowned for his work in compiling comprehensive technical information
and editor of Instrument Engineers Handbook; István Rév, author
of Retroactive Justice, Prehistories of The conference is free and open to the public. # The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and After: Impact and Contributions Conference and Reunion Schedule, February 15 – February 17, 2007 Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Thursday, February 15 2:00 p.m. Registration Atrium, F. W. Olin Humanities Building 3:00 p.m. Campus tour for alumni of 1956–57 orientation program Atrium, F. W. Olin Humanities Building 4:30 p.m. Torchlight procession Entrance, F. W. Olin Humanities Building 8:00 p.m. Concert by fortepianist Malcolm Bilson ’56 Olin Hall 9:15 p.m. Public film viewing: Fiery Autumn Weis Cinema, Bertelsmann Campus Center Friday, February 16 9:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast Atrium, F. W. Olin Humanities Building 10:00 a.m. Welcome and Keynote Speech by Csaba Békés, Olin Hall 11:00 a.m. Panel I: “Remembering 1956” Olin Hall 2:00 p.m. Panel II: “The Hungarian Revolution in the Shifting Mirror of Scholarship and Historical Memory” Olin Hall 4:00 p.m. Panel III: “Refugee Intellectuals and the American Experience” Olin Hall 8:00 p.m. Concert by the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein Sosnoff Theater, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Saturday, February 17 10:00 a.m. Address to Bard’s Hungarian Alumni of 1956–57 by László Bitó ’60 Olin Hall 11:00 a.m. Panel IV: “Contributions of Hungarian Émigrés to Contemporary Society” Olin Hall 12:30 p.m. Dedication of Memorial Plaque Preston Theater and Ludlow Willinck Hall # # #
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